THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Zenaida Mendez

“Education is the key. Making education affordable, and that the public school be high quality education. That’s critical for women.”

Interviewed by Noreen Connell, February 2024

NC:  Okay, Zenaida, your full name. Where and when were you born?

ZM:  Zenaida Mendez. Now you know the Latinos, my former name is Zenaida Altagracia Mejia. Better known as, Zenaida Mendez. I was born in Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo, and grew up in a small town called Boca Chica.

NC:  What was your life like before you got involved in the women’s movement?

ZM:  You see, the reason we came to the United States is because in 1965, 40,000 US Marines invaded the Dominican Republic. I came here at the age of 13 with my parents and my sister Carmen. And so basically, I went to school, I finished high school, I went to college also here. I got married, but I always had a political awareness. Because my father was very political, that’s why we came here. And so, I always was very aware of politics. I was very aware of the situation in terms of race discrimination and women’s discrimination. So even though I was not out there actively, I always was very informed. My idol was Angela Davis when I came here.

After that, when I was in college, I became involved as attending organizer in Hell’s Kitchen for four or five years, and went to all kinds of rallies. We were going through a situation in New York City where there were many city-owned buildings that the then mayor, Ed Koch, wanted to sell to developers. So, we did city wide organizing so that those working-class people were able to stay in their apartments. We used to just bring buses to the borough estimates. A lot of people don’t remember that, but the borough estimate to me was the best, because the five borough buses would sit, the borough estimate, plus the committee on housing, and we would arrive at 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon and be there until midnight testifying. So, it was a great learning experience.

I was very involved with the community board, Community Board 4, my area. I was the first Latina to chair the steering committee of the board; Community Board and a whole bunch of people who went up to be elected officials were part of that board at that time. So, I’m very proud that I was in that group, and we knew that there were going to be excellent representatives.

I became a mom. I had three daughters; at the time I had two, and they’re now activists just like me, so, they saw that. I was involved in the community, and due to my involvement in Hell’s Kitchen, in 1986, when David Dinkins became the borough president, they called me and offered me a position in the borough president office as a community liaison. I really didn’t have any plan to ever work for an elected official. But I was on the community board, so the board members said, “Yes, you should go.” My fellow colleagues, the housing conservation coordinator, they also were very happy that they offered me the position.

ACC was two blocks from my apartment. So, I started thinking, “Oh, I have to go downtown, take the train to city hall,” and so on. But then it was a very good group. I tell people that Bill Lynch, who was the chief of staff for the borough president office; I think he hired all the activists to be in the community department. And so, we all worked in different community boroughs as the liaisons.

I started as the liaison to Community Board 4, but because I’m bilingual and I’m Dominican and very familiar with the Latino community, the last two years that he was borough president I was the liaison to East Harlem, this community, community borough 11, and Washington Heights, community borough 12.  It was fantastic. I worked downtown and I worked uptown, it was really a great experience. Basically, knowing all the activists in Manhattan and how the community borough works. A lot of people didn’t understand, especially the Latino community, so it was a wonderful experience working there.

Then in ’89, when David Dinkins decided to run for mayor, I played a big role in organizing the Latino community, the Dominican community in particular. We worked 9:00 to 5:00 at the office, then from 5:00 to midnight, 1:00 o’clock in the morning, on the campaign, Saturday and Sunday. So, it was a beautiful, beautiful learning experience. Also learning so much about the state, or the city, and the people, knocking on doors, and the petitions. It was really good experience.

NC:  How did you get involved in the women’s movement? And what year was that?

ZM:  Wow, what year was that? I know it was one of the first big marches in Washington. I remember that in the ’80s I always was involved here.

NC:  There were ERA marches and there were also reproductive rights marches.

ZM:  Yes. So, I would go to the matches here, go to the matches also in Washington, DC., and then in 2004, David Dinkins was not reelected. So, I got more involved and more and more, and I founded the National Dominican Women’s Caucus, because I was very concerned that Dominican women were attached to the Dominican Republic, and not involved here. And I used to tell them, “This is where we have our children, this is where we go to school. So, we need to learn how the system works.”

Making sure that there were more elected officials, more Dominican women involved as a commissioner, more involved in the community board area, the school board. At that time, I don’t know if you remember that we used to have a school board. That was the first training for anybody running for office, because they only needed to have a child in a school. It didn’t matter whether you were documented, or undocumented, you could run for president of the school board. So, I got involved also, very much on that, basically supporting women to run for a school board.

And then in 2000, I did the environmental justice summit in Washington, D.C. I was on the board that was Environmental Action. Also, the national board of the Latino Family and Children here. So, I got involved in different organizations, not for profit. That led me to go to D.C., and then I applied to be the organizer for the 2004 Women’s march. I met Olga Vives.

NC:  And she was then what? Vice President of National NOW, the National Organization for Women in the national office?

ZM:  Yes, exactly. She was the National Vice President.

NC:  That’s so great.

ZM:  Yes. Those were the days.

NC:  She was such a terrific leader.

ZM:  Yes, she was wonderful. I remember we went to Las Vegas and did a big march against Walmart, because they didn’t pay women equally, or move them to management positions and their headquarters were in Las Vegas. So, we did a big conference in Las Vegas. It was fantastic. We went to Chicago also. Then I did a tour on the west coast with Janice Strauss. She was in Seattle, Washington. Then I became the director of NOW in Washington DC. I worked there for three years with Olga and a whole bunch of wonderful women. A lot of interns.

I remember we used to have our sneakers behind the door and our running shoes. So anytime we knew that the president, I don’t know if it was Ronald Reagan, or Bush, would be around the corner, we would run and protest. Some of us got arrested in front of the White House. Oh my God, those were wonderful days. Especially during the March Women’s History Month, we would be all over speaking. I even went to Florida. I worked in Florida, organizing women to get the vote out for a couple of months in Gainesville Florida and Orlando, that area. It was a beautiful, beautiful experience.

NC:  Terrific. And then after that, how did you ultimately end up to be NOW New York State President?

ZM:  When I came back to New York, I was a regular member of NOW. Marcia Pappas and I became very much active. She was the president of NOW New York State. And it happened that one of the Latino senators, Hiram Monserrate, used to abuse his girlfriend. He slashed the face of the girlfriend, took her to another hospital far away from the near hospital, and so Marcia and I organized for him to be ousted from the state senate, and we were successful.

Then Marcia said, “You know, you have to become the president of NOW in your state.” That’s how I became president. She really was there for me, and there were so many issues going on. At the same time, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, was the first Black woman head of the Senate, here in New York State. I very much wanted to get more women of color involved in NOW, not only national, but also in the state. I believe that we were very successful.

NC:  And networking with other organizations.

ZM:  We did a lot of networking with other organizations, definitely statewide. We would go to Syracuse, we would go to Buffalo. All over the state.

NC:  What were the greatest issues that you were concerned with when you were president of NOW New York state?

ZM:  Well, to continue to get more women equal pay. That was a big thing. We worked also with women who work in restaurants. They were not paid enough because they figured they would get tips. So, that was a big issue then.

NC:  And then you worked with press to get that. And then where were you when you were outside of the governor’s office?

ZM:  There was a proposal for the Women’s Equal Rights Agenda. There was a ten-point agenda.

NC:  Oh, yes, the ten-point agenda, including abortion rights.

ZM:  Exactly. And then one of the senators would not bring it to the floor for a vote, so we blocked the door. I got arrested, so that was a lot of fun. I would go there twice a week for many weeks.

NC:  That was a very important agenda.

ZM:  Yes, it was very important.

NC:  What issues were the greatest concern to you? Just in terms of what was happening to women then, and now.

ZM:  Well, affordable childcare. To this day, I tell women, “How can you vote for anyone who doesn’t have affordable child care first thing on their agenda?” That should be the first thing that we look up. Making sure that you go to work and leave your children in good hands. That was really a big thing. A very, very big thing.

NC:  And what do you think were your major accomplishments when you were president of State NOW?

ZM:  Well, I would say I put NOW back on the map.

NC:  Yes, press wise.

ZM:  To this day, people say, “What happened to NOW?” I say we, because, you were involved, Gabby, we had a little group that was very confrontational, in terms that we were not afraid. We were not afraid to confront whoever was in charge. Especially speaking in colleges. I mean, we have a lot of students from SUNY, and all of the colleges, we got very involved. We would go, invited by professors to speak in their classes, in the classroom. So, I think the main thing that we did is to put NOW back on the map. Because we were very involved with the New York Women’s Caucus, also. Gail Brewer and Peggy Shepherd, but then with the National Council for Women, we really made an impact, in terms of people saying, “Wait a minute, women are still organizing.” We still have a long way to go, unfortunately.

NC:  Have you been involved as an activist in the women’s movement or other areas since your second wave experience? Since you’ve been president of NOW New York State, you’re very much involved in media. What else have you been doing politically?

ZM:  Well, I’m very involved with the Latina community, with the Latinas. In addition, to the National Dominican Women’s Caucus. Nationally, also, because there was a big movement against domestic violence; I don’t know if you remember, we went to San Antonio, we went also to near Texas, because there was a lot of killing of women in Juarez, Mexico. So, we crossed the bridge with 250 women from the United States. That was very powerful. Olga was like, “We need to do that.” We did a Women of Color summit also.

It was really very exciting. It was very exciting in terms of the awareness, because New York has a particular situation that every day, are new people coming in. So, it’s like every day you have to start again and educate people on the system. And also, women that had their freedom in their country, they come here and we would show them the path more or less, of the system. That they can do a lot on their own, and that the system also can help them.

NC:  And they can be active here. Now, are you currently involved as an activist?

ZM:  Oh, yes. I’m very involved in New York State and Latin America, and I’m currently writing a book about my activism in the United States. I’m very involved in the arts, and the media, giving voice to the voiceless. I’m very much involved with grassroots media, which I’m very proud of. Because when you look at the mainstream media and you look at what we do, it’s a big difference. It’s a big difference. And also, it’s very important in Latin America. I was very involved with the vice president of Colombia, the Afro-Latina elected vice president of Colombia. Now we are also going to bring the former vice president of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell, who’s also a Black woman, a Black Latina. So, continue to do that kind of work and bring more awareness.

The new generation has a lot of work to do. I usually tell people I never thought that what I did 40 years ago; now my granddaughters are going to have to start all over again, much for the same thing. It’s just incredible. And the four years that Donald Trump was president, we marched every year here. We went to the first one in D.C., and then here in New York City every year. So, we continue to work on the curriculum. I feel that college professors are afraid. When I was in college, my professors would encourage us. Right now, they’re afraid to lose their tenure. It’s incredible what’s going on. Very few professors are still there to be active and encourage the students.

NC:  How has your involvement in the women’s movement affected your later life personally and professionally?

ZM:  Well, I happen to be in a profession that is dominated by men. As a matter of fact, in a big article that I was interviewed a year and a half ago, they asked me, “How do you survive in a men dominated environment?” And I say, “Yes, and I do whatever I want.” Also, so other women can be able to do it because it’s important. It is important. And to me, education is the key. Making education affordable, and that the public school be high quality education. That’s critical for women. It is critical for us to do that. And you go to colleges, if there are 30 students, I would say 21 are female.

NC:  That’s what the statistics show?

ZM:  Exactly.

NC:  That the majority of people getting BA degrees are women?

ZM:  Exactly.

NC:  What a change.

ZM:  It’s a big change.

NC:  Which is great, yes.